obama spoke with homeland security secretary janet napolitano and fema administrator craig fugate among others. they promise to bring all available resources to the hardest-hit areas prepositioning many right now. local governments are getting ready as well. seven states as well as d.c. have now declared states of emergency. the latest being connecticut. mandatory evacuations are now planned in both new york and new jersey. we're keeping an very close watch as well on the airports for you. at this point there are no major delays to report. but major problems are definitely possible in the coming days. all the major airlines are waiving fees for any passengers who want to reschedule their flights to the affected areas along the eastern seaboard. it is a big area. we have a team of correspondents deployed along the east coast including nbc's al roker and the weather channel stephanie abrams in delaware. colleagues jim can torre and mike sidell are in new york city and new jersey. they will all be joining us throughout our coverage today. we begin here in studio with nbc meteorologist dyla